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U.S. top diplomat to travel to Europe for talks on Syria

Xinhua, October 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Switzerland on Saturday and then to Britain on Sunday for multilateral talks on the Syrian conflict, the State Department said Wednesday.

The top U.S. diplomat will meet with foreign ministers from key regional partners in Lausanne, Switzerland, and key regional and international partners in London to discuss a multilateral approach to resolving the crisis in Syria, State Department spokesperson John Kirby said in a statement.

The new diplomatic efforts on Syria came after Washington suspended negotiations with Moscow over Syria amid continuing strikes in the Syrian city of Aleppo that shattered a ceasefire agreement reached last month.

At Wednesday's regular press briefing, Kirby told reporters that he could not rule out the potential that Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet on the sidelines of the meeting on the weekend.

But he added that the potential meeting between the top diplomats of the U.S. and Russia does not mean the suspension of the two country's bilateral engagement on the ceasefire in Syria is lifted.

Kerry trip to Europe will follow his visit to Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday and Friday for meetings on climate and environment issues. Enditem